Monthly Archives: November 2005

The latest weekly TV ratings for the Kanto area, Oct. 31 – Nov. 6 (provided by Video Research):

1. Sazae-san (animation, Fuji TV) – 21.5%

2. Drama Complex, Hotaru no Haka (drama, NTV) – 21.2%

3. Shoten (rakugo comedy, NTV) – 20.7%

4. SMAP x SMAP (variety, Fuji TV) – 20.7%

5. Friday Drama, Hana Yori Dango (drama, TBS) – 20.5%

Sazae-san and Shoten are both long-running family favorites. Drama Complex is a new concept in what for 24 years was the Tuesday Suspense Theater time slot. The new 2-hour show plans to feature a wide variety of types of drama, comedy and action. The first feature starred Matsushima Nanako in an adaptation of the novel “Hotaru no Haka” (Grave of the Fireflies), which was earlier an anime hit for Miyazaki Hayao‘s Studio Ghibli. The Drama Complex theme music was written by guitarist Hotei Tomoyasu, his first composition for a TV show. Smap members continue to enjoy healthy ratings for most of the shows they are involved in, though only SMAP x SMAP, which features all five of them, made the Top 30.

Singer and music producer Tsunku (37) has suggested that he might start a male version of the hugely succesful Morning Musume. Speaking at an event in his hometown of Higashi Osaka, he hinted that the group would only be open to good-looking and talented guys from the local area. The event was actually to promote a new image song for the city written by Tsunku, and the idea for a new boy idol group may or may not have been an ad lib. We’ll have to wait and see.

• Hollywood superstars Brad Pitt (41) and Angeline Jolie (30) will be in town at the end of the month. They’ll be here to promote the movie that brought them together romantically in real life, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” which opens here on December 3. No doubt the world’s media will be in tow, watching for more signs of impending marriage between the two. As it will be their first official public appearance together since the finalization of Pitt’s divorce from Jennifer Aniston, some are even hoping that the trip will be used to make the big announcement.

The Watanabe productions talent agency held a huge party yesterday to celebrate its 50th anniversary. “NabePro” as it’s known has produced some of the biggest stars of the postwar era, including the comedy/musical legends Crazy Cats and Drifters and singer Matsutoya Yumi (photo). A total of 2,500 people attended the party, with dozens of stars on stage at any given time.

• Big things are expected from singer-songwriter Ayaka. The 17-year old high school student’s singing ability has pundits comparing with Utada Hikaru and Mariah Carey, no less. She made an appearance at an event to showcase new Warner Music artists at the Tokyo International Forum and gave a preview of her debut single, “I Believe.” The single, not due for release till next February, is to be the theme song for the highly anticipated TBS drama series “Rinbukyoku.” The series will pair hugely popular South Korean star Choi Ji Woo (30) and local heart throb Takenouchi Yutaka (34).

• Popular singer Uehara Takako (21) and Johnny’s Jimusho star Akanishi Jin (21) were spotted on a date recently. The two were recently photographed in a romantic clinch outside a Chinese restaurant by the weekly gossip magazine Friday. But according to a Johnny’s spokesperson, they have since broken up. Uehara became a teenage star as a member of the idol pop group Speed, while Akanishi is one of the six young singers who make up Kat-Tun.

• Takahashi Hiro, former vocalist of the 80s band Tulip died at a Tokyo hospital on November 4 of multiple organ failure, it was reported yesterday. He was 41.

Actress Adachi Yumi (24) and comedian Itoda Jun (32) are to hold their wedding ceremony and reception on Saturday. According to a friend of the couple, they will hold their ceremony in a chapel with family only, and have invited about 150 showbiz friends to join them at their reception at a seafront restaurant. Adachi, who is four months pregnant, chose the restaurant as she has held fan events there in the past. The couple registered their marriage on September 14, after going out for just 5 months. Itoda is one half of the manzai duo Speed Wagon, while Adachi has been a star since she was a young child.

• Hugely popular actress Nakama Yukie (26) has been named as the most “Utsukushii Genki Hito” (beautiful and vibrant person) for 2005. The award was given by the less than glamourous Japan Society of Vegetable Oil Makers and is just one of many silly PR awards given every year. Nakama topped the poll thanks to her appearances in several upbeat TV drama series. She was followed in the poll by fellow actresses Kuroki Hitomi (up from 5th last year), Yamaguchi Tomoko and Amami Yuki, and pro golfer Miyazato Ai. the poll was run on the society’s website and 2,100 women voted.

Pop duo Puffy are to be the first Japanese to appear in the New York Thanksgivings Day Parade. The duo have become very popular in the US thanks to the Cartoon Network series “Hi! Hi! PuffyYumiAmi” and recently played their most successful concert tour there. The parade has been running since 1924 and is watched by about 2.5 million people in New York and another 50 million on live TV. Yoshimura Yumi (30) said, “I don’t know what to expect until we ‘re actually there, but I’m nervous about it already!”

• The funeral service was held last night for the late pop singer Honda Minako, who died of leukemia last weekend at the age of 38. About 1,200 people – family, friends and fellow showbiz celebrities – paid their last respects, while 1,500 fans said a tearful farewell outside the crematorium in Saitama Prefecture.

• Winners of the 2005 “Best Smile of the Year Awards” are actress Ueto Aya (20) and champion race jockey Take Yutaka (36). The awards are sponsored by chewing gum maker Lotte.

• Folk music duo Billy Ban Ban have applied to the Guinness Book of Records – they reckon they are the world’s longest-running sibling duo. The brothers, Sugawara Takashi (61) and Sugawara Susumu (58), made their debut in 1969 with “Shiroi Buranko” (White Swing) and have released a new single today to mark their 36th year in showbiz. Their gentle melodies are often featured as background music in TV commercials, and the new single “Kimi no Uta” (Your Song) is their 8th to be used in an ad for the iichiko brand of sake since 1988. The duo took their name from the cowboy outlaw Billy the Kid.

Actress Yamaguchi Moe (28) was beaming as she proudly showed off her engagement ring yesterday. She and IT company president Ozeki Shigeo (31) got hitched on Sunday, Ozeki’s birthday. Yamaguchi flashed her 3-carat diamond ring and showed her usual ditzy character during a packed press conference. She didn’t give a clear answer when asked if she plans to quit showbiz. But her new hubbie, as one of the wealthiest and most prominent of the high-profile IT entrepreneurs, certainly won’t be needing to send her out to work.

• Pop singer and musical performer Honda Minako died of acute myelocytic leukemia on Sunday, according to her family. She was 38. She was diagnosed as suffering from leukemia in January and went public with her fight against the disease, while being hospitalized several times.

Honda had repeatedly been hospitalized in the final months of her life. She had a string of hits between the mid-1980s and early 90s. She then took to the stage, playing the lead in “Miss Saigon,” which became her signature role. Her funeral will be held Wednesday in Saitama Prefecture.

• Several cast members of the latest Harry Potter movie are scheduled to visit Japan this month. The fourth in the movie series, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” had its world premiere in London on Sunday. It opens here on November 26, and Emma Watson (15), Rupert Grint (17) and Katie Lang (18) will be arriving a week before for a fan event and preview screening. Lang, of Chinese descent and raised in Scotland, is making her movie debut as Harry’s first love interest. The series, like the books on which it is based, is hugely popular here but has seen declining box office returns. The first movie pulled in ¥20.3 billion, the second ¥17.3 billion and the latest made a mere ¥13.5 billion. Producers are probably just aiming to break the ¥10-billion mark this time, but optimistically say they expect ¥15 billion.

Actor/director Kitano “Beat” Takeshi (58) expressed satisfaction at the bemused faces of people who had just watched the opening of his latest movie. Kitano has said that he wants “Takeshis'” to confuse people and that he doesn’t care whether it loses money. The story, which features Kitano playing himself and another identical character and is jumbled and non-linear to say the least, seemed to achieve its first aim, but full houses in the 153 cinemas nationwide where it opened yesterday attest to the popularity of the man many consider Japan’s greatest living director. Kitano is of course originally a vaudeville and comedy star and continually cracks jokes even about his more serious work. But he doesn’t seem to aiming for laughs when he says that his latest feature is just something he’s been wanting to get out of his system for over a decade. Having achieved both critical and box-office success, most recently with 2003’s “Zatoichi,” he felt the time was right to put this project on celluloid.

• All-female theatrical troupe Takarazuka set out for Korea yesterday. They will put on a series of three performances of their most famous production, “The Rose of Versailles” in Seoul, as part of the 40th anniversary of normalization of relations with Japan. It is the 24th Takarazuka overseas tour but the first to Japan’s closest neighbor, and it will be the first chance for foreign audiences to see “Rose…”. Kozuki Wataru will play the role of Swedish nobleman Count Axel Fersen, who had an adulterous affair with the tragic French queen Marie Antoinette.

Comedian Razor Ramon HG (Hard Gay) has shot to the top of the charts. The chart, that is, of the TV personalities parents most definitely don’t want their kids watching. The perennial favorites, such as Yoshimoto comedians London Boots and Downtown and cartoon tyke Crayon Shin-chan, are still despised as much as ever. But Yoshimoto member and former wrestler Hard Gay has really made a big impact over the last few months, with his trademark aviator sunglasses, black leather hot pants, pelvic thrusting and cry of “Foooh!” This week, his lesser-known comedy partner Razor Ramon RG made a rare appearance at the launch of HG’s first book, entitled simply “HG.” Not to be outdone by his over-the-top sidekick, RG stripped down to a skimpy red fundoshi (thong) and the pair pranced around for the media. But back to the rankings – the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun polled 1,000 of its readers, and HG came out on top with 434 votes, easily beating London Boots at 253 and Downtown at 143. Also in the Top 10 was fortune teller and writer Hosoki Kazuko (whose book sales have earned her a place in the Guinness Book of Records). Her mix of arrogant preaching and grandmotherly advice seems to make her equally loved and hated by viewers.

Asked about specific programs they hate, readers chose “London Hearts,” followed by “Crayon Shin-chan” and “Kisu Dake ja Iya,” which features comedian Shimada Shinsuke chatting with young couples who are breaking up, having affairs or other sordid stuff. Shinsuke himself made the unpopular Top 10, no doubt partly due to last year’s assault on a female colleague that led to his tearful apology on live TV.

Popular singer Gackt has not only recorded two songs for the latest video game from Square Enix, but he also appears as a new character in “Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII.” Gackt recorded both the theme song, “Redemption,” and “Longing,” which is incorporated into the Sony PlayStation2 game. “It’s amazing how fast the CG technology is these days,” he said. “I really enjoyed filming this.” The game will go on sale on January 26 and retail for ¥8,190.

• Maeda Ken (34) has come out. Not that it was any big secret that the comedian, whose most popular image is his impersonation of teen idol singer Matsuura Aya, is gay. But he made his first public announcement yesterday at a PR event for his new book. Dressed as a female doctor, complete with a pink wig, Maeda explained how his book looks at five types of men and analyses how to hook them.

Today is the Culture Day (Bunka no Hi) national holiday.

• Among the 19 winners of this autumn’s Purple Ribbon Medal are actor Watari Tetsuya (63) and actress Ootori Ran (59). The medals are awarded by the government twice annually to those who excel in the arts, academia and sports. The always humble Watari expressed his pride and also embarrassment at receiving the award, saying he owed his success to the staff and fellow cast members of his many movies and TV dramas. He also mentioned his indebtedness to the late Ishihara Yujiro, whose management agency he now runs. Ootori dedicated her award to her mother, who is currently in hospital. Other recipients included composer Miki Takashi and lyricist Araki Toyohisa.

• It was revealed this week that actress Henmi Mari (55) recently divorced her second husband. She divorced the 41-year jewellery designer on October 28, bringing an end to their 4-year marriage. According to the husband, Henmi told him in early October that she wanted him out of their home. He returned home to pick up his belongings and found a divorce application waiting for him. He put his seal on it in mid-October. Henmi’s daughter from her first marriage is popular actress Henmi Emiri (28).